Assignment Instructions

How much do you share on social media? Do you have accounts linked to your computer,
phone, and tablet? The average teen spends around five hours per day online, and checks his or
her social media account about 10 times each day.1

When an image or post is shared publicly, some students are surprised at how quickly their
information travels across the Internet. The scary part is that nothing online is really private. All
it takes is one friend sharing your photo, status update, or tweet with the public to create a very
public viral trend.

For this project you will use what you have learned about exponential functions to study what
happens if a social media post is shared publicly.

Social Sharing

Three Algebra 1 students are comparing how fast their social media posts have spread. Their
results are shown in the following table.

Student Amber Ben Carter

Description Amber shared her Ben shared his post with Carter shared his post
photo with 3 people. 2 friends. Each of those with 10 friends, who
They continued to share friends shares with 3 each share with only 2
it, so the number of more every day, so the people each day.
shares increases every number of shares triples
day as shown by the every day.
function.

Day Number
x
Social Media Post f(x) = 3(4) of Shares Carter shared his post
Shares with 10 friends, who
0 2
each share with only 2
1 6 people each day.

2 18
Write equations for each post (fill in the blanks)
Student Amber Ben Carter
Initial Post 3

Rate of Growth 300% or 3.0

Equation f(x) = 3(1.00 + 3.00)x
f(x) = 3(4)x

Using the information from the table above answer the following (use the ^ symbol for
exponents):
1. Write an exponential function to represent the spread of Ben’s social media post.

2. Write an exponential function to represent the spread of Carter’s social media post.

3. Graph each function using at least 3 points for each line. All graphs should be placed together on the
same coordinate plane, so be sure to label each line. You may graph your equation by hand on a
piece of paper and scan your work or you may use graphing technology.

Paste your graph below:

4. Using the functions for each student, predict how many shares each student’s post will have
received on Day 3 and Day 10. Justify your answers.

Day = x Amber Ben Carter

10

5. If Amber decides to mail copies of her photo to the 45 residents of her grandmother’s
assisted living facility, the new function representing her photo shares is f(x) = 3(4) x + 45. How
does this graph compare with the original graph of Amber’s photo share?
6. Based on your results, which students’ post travels the fastest? How is this shown in the
equation form of the functions?

7. If you had to choose, would you prefer a post with fewer friends initially but more shares, like
Amber, or more friends initially but fewer shares? Justify your answer with your calculations
from previous questions.